Hurting ‘living Ganga’ may cost you up to ₹100cr
NEWDELHI: Robbery, cheating, causing grievous hurt and attempt to commit culpable homicide are all punishable by up to seven years in prison. Now add one more crime to that list that may soon attract such a stringent punishment: Messing with Ganga.
A Centre-appointed panel has drafted a bill, the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill 2017, which, if passed into a law, will also prescribe seven years in jail and a fine of up to ₹100 crore for anyone who commits a range of offences on the river, including blocking flow, quarrying or constructing jetties without permission.
The Uttarakhand HC recently declared the river a “living entity” and the panel’s bill makes it clear that troubling it can be a costly affair.
The panel led by retired justice Giridhar Malaviya, has also suggested declaring an area abutting within 1km from Ganga and its major tributaries as ‘water saving zone’. The panel though has said such zones may be defined after conducting scientific studies within six months after the bill is enacted.
The government has forwarded the draft, submitted to the water resources ministry in April, to another experts’ committee to seek their suggestions on the bill, which will be further discussed with Uttarakhand, UP, Jharkhand and Bihar before the final draft is out.